INTRODUCTION TO COGNITIVE SCIENCE NURSING INFORMATICS CHAPTER 3 1

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES Describe cognitive science. Assess how our minds process and generate information and knowledge. Explore cognitive informatics. Examine artificial intelligence (AI) and its relationship to cognitive science and computer science. 2

CHAPTER INTRODUCTION Cognitive science is one of the basic building blocks used to understand informatics. It was only 50 years ago that computer operations and actions were linked to cognitive science, theories of the mind, intellect or brain. 3

The applications of cognitive science to NI include: Problem solving Decision support systems Usability issues User-centered interfaces and systems Development and use of terminologies 4

Cognitive Science Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary field that studies the mind intelligence and behavior from an information processing perspective. Cognitive science is the study of the mind and how information is processed in the mind The mind is frequently compared to a computer and experts in computer science strive to understand how the mind processes data and information while experts in cognitive science attempt to model human thinking using artificial networks provided by computers. 5

Cognitive science provides the scaffolding for the analysis and modeling of complicated, multifaceted human performance and therefore has a tremendous affect on the issues impacting informatics. 6

Sources of Knowledge Empiricists do not recognize innate (the inborn, the instinctive, the intrinsic) knowledge Rationalists believe that reason is more essential in the acquisition of knowledge than the senses. 7

There are three sources of knowledge: 1. Instinct: It is when you react without reason such as when a car is heading toward you and you jump out of the way instinctively. 2. Reason: “Collects facts, generalizes, reasons out from cause to effect, from effect to cause, from premises to conclusions, from propositions to proofs”. 3. Intuition: A way of acquiring knowledge that cannot be obtained by inference, deduction, observation, reason analysis or experience. 8

Nature of Knowledge Epistemology is the study of the nature and origin of knowledge (what it means to know) Knowledge is defined as the awareness and understanding of a set of information and ways that information can be made useful to support a specific task or arrive at a decision; it abounds with others’ thoughts and information or is information that is synthesized so that relationships are identified and formalized. 9

Knowledge/Wisdom & Decision Making The whole point in collecting and building data, information, and knowledge is to be able to make informed, cautious, wise and intelligent decisions. The decision making process revolves around knowledge and wisdom. It is through our efforts to understand the nature of knowledge and its evolution to wisdom that we can conceive of, build and implement informatics tools that enhance and mimic our mind’s processes to facilitate decision making and job performance. 10

Intelligence: Mental ability to think logically, reason, prepare, ideate, assess alternative solutions to problems, problem solve by choosing a proposed solution, think abstractly, comprehend and grasp ideas, understand and use language, and learn Logic: A science that deals with the principles and criteria of validity of inference and demonstration: the science of the formal principles of reasoning; Acquiring knowledge through logic requires reasoned action to make valid inferences. 11

Memory: Data stored in digital format; generally refers to random access memory (RAM). Perception: The process of acquiring knowledge about our environment or situation by obtaining, interpreting, selecting, and organizing sensory information from seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and smelling; Sensory experience foundational to formulating knowledge. 12

Reasoning: Way of thinking, calculating, interpreting, or introspectively rethinking, or critically thinking, through an issue; reflective thought to reason or think through one's ideas and alternatives. 13

Cognitive Informatics Computing and informatics theories can be applied to help understand the information processing of the brain Cognitive and neurological sciences can likewise be applied to build better and more efficient computer processing systems. Cognitive Information attempts to help bridge this gap by systematically exploring the mechanisms of the brain and mind and exploring specifically how information is acquired, represented, remembered, retrieved, generated, and communicated. 14

Artificial Intelligence Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the field that deals with the conception, development and implementation of informatics tools based on intelligent technologies. The challenge of this field rests in the capturing, mimicking and creating the complex processes of the mind in our informatics tools including software, hardware and other machine technologies with the goal of the tool to be able to initiate and generate its own mechanical thought processing. 15

The brain’s processing is highly complicated. AI uses cognitive science and computer science to replicate and generate human intelligence This field will continue to evolve and produce artificially intelligent tools to enhance our personal and professional lives. 16